8 October 2017

(the) Melvins - A Walk with Love & Death

If
I wrote another opening paragraph about the Melvins and went over everything
they have accomplished in their career, it would have to come with a few appendixes.
A Walk with Love & Death is the twenty fifth studio album by the band (if
you include collaborations and other versions of the Melvins, which was
released in May 2017. It features guest appearances by the likes of Joey
Santiago (Pixies), Anna Waronker (that dog.) and Teri Gender Bender (Le Butcherettes).
The first side is called Love (which is the soundtrack to a short movie
called A Walk with Love & Death by Jesse Nieminen) and the second is
called Death which is a standard album. So, without further ado (and because this is a long review), lets get started.....

Love

01
- Aim High

The
Love side of this album opens with "Aim High", a swirling psychedelic-pop
number about wanting to get off your tits on drugs (it could be about anything, but that is what I took from it). It is full of energy
and it sound as if everything is melting through your speakers and mind, due to
the drugs kicking in. It is a frantic and fast little opening, a fun song
to start this long album(s).

02
- Queen Powder Party

Queen Powder Party is your standard noise track,
strange electronic sounds dancing around your speakers, nightmarish screams and
the feeling like a black & white teenage horror film is playing in the
background. A good track then, but lets be honest here, they have created better than this.

03
- Street Level St. Paul

With
a low-slung bass, sludge drums and a wall of feedback, "Street Level
St. Paul" is the first song on this album to truly grab my
attention. No disrespect to "Aim High" or "Queen
Powder Party", but this is The Melvins at their best for me. It
sounds huge, it sounds loud and it feels like someone is having their lungs
punch with the sound of the bass amp. It is a great song, one of the best
of either part of this double record.

04
- The Hidden Joice

Slowly
things down once again, "The Hidden Joice" is a beautiful
piece of noise which gives more with each listen, revealing extra depths with
each spin and it is a wonder song. It is not heavy at all, but there is weight
behind each note, as if they are straining to be unleashed and sometimes this
is where you find The Melvins at their fiercest, in that moment before the
explosion. I love the way their mix their noise with classic pop/rock at
times, it sounds sublime and is such a hard act to get right, something they do
with apparent ease.

05
- Give in To Me

No, this is not a cover the Michael Jackson song, but a noise piece which gives
the listener a massive injection of strange sounds and it have that Avant Garde
feeling that you might be going down the rabbit hole. You will either
love it or loathe it, it really depends on how much you love your noise - as
you are reading an article about The Melvins, I would suspect you like it an
awful lot. But be warned, this one is a test for some and is akin to
Nurse with Wound in places.

06
- Chicken Butt

"Chicken
Butt" almost sounds too normal in comparison to "Give in To Me",
after that much noise, it is sort of hard to come back into reality. It
is a decent number, but even the presence of Ms Terri Gender Bender cannot make
it sparkle after such a hypnotic wall of sound. A good song, but in the
wrong place.

07
- Eat Yourself Whole

A
little interlude track in a way, "Eat Yourself Whole" sounds
like a scat-rap piece with the band doing an accompany jam in the background
via another room. I love the sound of this song, but it is nothing more
than an interlude.

08
- Scooba

We
are back in the land of the colossal bass sound with "Scooba",
it starts off with that teeth vibrating sound which is so good. It moves
at such a slow place that calling it sludge would not do justice to the noise.
Also, the slow decent into another piece of random sound is delightful, but I
wonder if it would how it would have sounded if they had have not ended with
that disintegration at the end of the song.

09
- Halfway to the Bakersfield Mall

"Halfway to the Bakersfield Mall" is another noise piece, one
that sounds like an acid trip on the way through a vast public space, whilst
reality and fantasy fight to see who will win in your mind. I am not
going to lie, it is either going to enthral or bore you, but I love it as it
sounds like a bizarre nightmare.

10
- Pacoima Normal

More noise, more glorious noise that is designed to capture the imagination and
separate the wheat from the chaff, but in the form of noise heads and sludge
fans. It is intense, it is violent and it is brilliant. But it is
also not for everyone, somethings are never should be and this is one of them.

11
- Park Head

You can really tell this is a soundtrack to a film, the number of abstract
pieces on this side of the record is rather heavy. But I love these
little pieces, they add flavour to my mind. I wish I could hear it in the
correct context, alongside the movie, but it still sounds great.

12 - T-Burg

Noise! Noise! Noise! Noise! Noise! Again, you will either love it or hate
it. There is not much else to talk about on this one, but it is an
interest piece with a lot of swearing.

13 - Track Star

See the last four entries for my thoughts on this one, it is very much the same
sort of thing. You are listening to Avant Garde noise for a film, you
will either love or hate it, for my money - I love it.

14
- The Asshole Bastard

Ending
Love is "The Asshole Bastard", which continues the
strange and Avant leanings of the soundtrack. If you have not enjoyed the
last five numbers, chances are this will drive you over the edge. But
there is beauty in this track, a fascinating piece of art that will make ears
bleed when played at the right volume. It is (once again), not for
everyone, but neither are the Melvins to be honest.

Death

01
- Black Heath

Death starts as Love ended, with a strange piece of noise.
This introduction sounds like the background noise of an office or place of
work, with strange keyboards in the background. As an introduction, it is
decent and you are awaiting the band to kick in.

02
- Sober-Delic (Acid Only)

Finally, a piece from the Melvins which is not just noise! As much as I
love their Avant Garde side, it is also a joy to hear King Buzzo let those
vocals flow! This is a slow and (for the Melvins) sparse piece which is
heavy when required, but also as gentle as a lover in others. On both
discs, this is one of my favourite tracks on the album. It is a piece
that can get stuck in my head and it does not need the reverb that is their
normal calling card. Also, that ending is a fantastic piece of looping
sound!

03
- Euthanasia

More
noise! It sounds like you are half listening to conversations through a
fog with a helicopter going around. Much like the best percentage of this
record, it is for the few and not the many. But I think it is brilliant, definitely
one of the best noise sections of this record.

04
- What's Wrong with You?

A
slow and intense pain, that is the best way I can describe "What's Wrong with
You?". It oozes out of the speaker and it is as gentle and powerful
as a stream, but even a stream over time can cut through anything and this song
is a cracking example of the Melvins at their best when the distortion and
noise is put to the side.

05 - Edgar the Elephant

Everything
is turned up loud on this song, except the speed which is turned down to sludge
pace. I love "Edgar the Elephant" as it hits all the right
buttons, all at the speed of sludge and it is a heavy as anything of their back
catalogue. It is a great number, one of the best on either side of the
record.

06 - Flaming Creature

We are back on the noise trip at this point, with a wall of feedback at sonic
noise attack that is in fitting with the best percentage of this record.
It is a short piece, but an effective one none the less.

07 - Christ Hammer

Another
strange piece of avant-garde noise, one that reminds me of the strange
interludes on Civilization Phaze III by Frank Zappa. It is over in
the blink of an eye and could have been explored a lot further to be
honest. A little too short, but still interesting.

08
- Cactus Party

The
penultimate song of this album shows the pop/rock side of Melvins, it is a
straight forward number that is direct and to the point. After all the
noise on this album, it is a little gem of delight as the record draws to a
close.

09 - Cardboa Negro

Ending the album is the delicious "Cardboa Negro", a song that brings
the curtain down in a dignified manner, to be honest I was expecting a wall of distorted
noise and they have ended on a slow post-grunge number that gets better with
each spin. It is a subtle way to end this album, but not an unwelcome
one, in fact it is one of the best on the record and I love it!

I am no closer to marking this album than I was back in May, it is an
impossible record to give a mere number to that will encapsulate this nuance of
this record perfectly. It is an album by a legendary band who have never
been afraid to push the envelope, a band who made their mark in noise and they
have released one of the most difficult records of their career. It will
not be for everyone and that is the intent on this record, for the few and not
the many. I do wish I could see the film from the Love side of the
record, but I am sure I will one day. Out of the two sides, Death is the better piece. It just sings to my soul, but both are equally brilliant. It is just an album that is impossible to mark, anyone that tells you otherwise is lying to you. It is not the album I would reach
for first, but it is one I admire.

Crazy Cat Symbol - This album cannot be marked, so here is a box of kittens

Welcome to the final round-up review of 2017! Similar to the Round-Up posts I put up earlier in the year, I’m going to be posting some bull...

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Album scoring system

0 - This is proof there is no deity1 - You're really are touching the bottom of the barrel with this one2 - If only there was some quality control3 - It could have been a bit better4 - Well it's alright, but still......5 -Not for everyone but played well6 - Now I see where you were going, but it's not quite there7 - This is good and well worth a check8 - Oh, now you have my attention and maybe my money, time and heart9 - Almost perfect....Almost10 - This is proof there is a deity(For albums that are too crazy to be marked)Crazy Cat symbol - This album cannot be marked, so here is a box of kittens

Singles/EP Marking System

0 - Only to be listened to by people bless with the gift of being deaf1 - Not so much on the bad that it is bottom of the barrel, but it can see the stuff down there2 - Not bad, not good - so average it is Zen3 - Decent, getting there4 - This is really good, well worth checking out5 - I wish I had extra ears to love this more(For Singles/EPs that are too crazy to mark)Crazy Cat symbol - This release cannot be marked, so here is a box of kittens